People want to know what is in the public consciousness that gets our blood pumping for vampires. Psychologists and sociologists have studied it, trying to get at the causes of this cultural phenomenon. According to the UK's Fabulous Magazine, what they discovered is that it isn't a phenomenon at all. Rather, our love for vampires is just the newest form of expression for our attraction to the brooding bad boy. Sure, vampires have taken brooding to a new level. They are in a constant struggle with their vampiric nature, and part of the bad boy danger to them is the fear that they might stop fighting their darker instincts. We've seen this in many vampire stories, with antiheroic characters who exist in the moral gray area between good and evil. Stephen Moyer's Bill Compton in True Blood, Robert Pattinson's Edward Cullen in Twilight, David Boreanaz's Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer--all tortured souls, and all undeadly sexy. Yet, they are not a new brand of male. They follow classic archetypes seen in literature for centuries. Women were swooning over brooding bad boys like Heathcliff from Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice long before fangs were considered attractive. Heathcliff is a wild, untamed character whose love for Catherine is so strong that it consumes his life. Circumstances do not allow them to be together, but readers are left with the impression that they are together, even in death. Pride & Prejudice has a happier ending than Wuthering Heights, with Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet getting married. For the first half of the book, however, Darcy comes across as the strong, silent type. He is completely drawn to Elizabeth's charming wit and strong personality and, without intending to, falls in love with her. With both Heathcliff and Darcy, the love they feel seems to transcend that of an ordinary love story, as if it's in their very soul. Psychologists identify our attraction to men like Darcy and Heathcliff as a natural inclination: "Ultimately, brooding men are quite scary and women's attraction to dangerous men goes back to the evolution theory. If your partner was dangerous or aggressive, it meant you and your family were more likely to survive."Part of it is also the challenge of catching the heart of a man like that. It takes a special woman to inspire such passionate feelings in one who is deep, withdrawn, and battling inner demons. It adds another challenge if the guy is a vampire who will feel the perpetual desire to drain your blood! Alan Ball, executive producer of True Blood, has likened Bill to Mr. Darcy before, and the comparison makes sense, beyond just the obvious gentlemanly manners that both possess. In Pride & Prejudice when Darcy first meets Elizabeth, he shows her his bad side. He is proud and conceited, until he recognizes how special she is and tries to gain her affection. Only when he proves how selfless he can be, helping Elizabeth's family without taking any credit for his generosity, does she realize how much he feels for her and how much she also loves him. On True Blood when Bill is first getting to know Sookie, he scares her by how violent he can be, like when Malcolm, Liam, and Diane come to visit, and when the police officer questions them in the car after going to Fangtasia. This darkness in Bill reemerges from time to time because, as a vampire, it's always a part of him. But he sees how special she is, and experiences feelings he didn't think he could have since he was turned over 140 years ago. He cares for her so much that he is willing to sacrifice himself to protect her, from Longshadow, Rene, or whoever else would try to hurt her. Sookie sees the goodness in him, and it makes her love him. The brooding bad boy, with all of his deep thoughts and conflicting emotions, is so attractive to women because they hope to be the one to make him want to be good. Vampires are giving us a new way to fantasize about this kind of character. SOURCE: newsoftheworld.co.uk (Photo credit: HBO Inc.)
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